Rudder Shaft Noise

[Lagniappe]

I am hearing kind of a "grinding" noise near the top of my rudder shaft, in the quadrant area. Any thoughts?

[leigh weiss]

Some thoughts on your problem...
Remove the overhead cover in the aft cabin and: Check the alignment of the cables and lubricate the shivs that guide the cables. Look for ware on the quadrant where the cables might have produced groves. Check the tightness of the cables.
Remove top bearing cover in the floor of the cockpit and check the cleanliness of the bearings (fiber washers) If the boat is out on the hard you could remove the top bearing and completely clean the bearing surfaces. I lubricate these with a little liquid soap.
Let us know how you make out with this project.

[Lagniappe]

Thanks. I'll check it out.

[Lagniappe]

I traced the rudder shaft noise back to the autopilot linear actuator. The autopilot is in the process of being repaired, after a lightning strike, so, it looks like the actuator could be bad also.